The following resources can help you and your family be prepared to care for yourselves, loved ones, and your personal property in the event of a disaster.

ALERT Monterey

Monterey County is starting the ALERT Monterey, Telephonic Emergency Notification System (TENS). This system is used by City and County public safety officials to deliver emergency notifications to residents and businesses impacted by, (or in danger of being impacted by), an emergency or disaster by utilizing the existing 9-1-1 database to call and deliver a recorded message to all land-line phone numbers in a specific geographic area within a City and/or the County.  No action is necessary on your part for any of your landline phone numbers.

Residents may also be notified on their cell phone, Voice over IP (VoIP) phone or at their email address, however, those wishing to receive emergency messages on these devices must register them. This service is free, no information is shared, and takes about three minutes to complete the registration at the link below. 

It is highly recommended that all personal cell phones or other listed devices be registered for this service (especially if you do not have a land-line).

For more information, visit the ALERT Monterey website.

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross provides various tools to help you and your family be prepared:

• Documents on preparing for specific disasters: floods, earthquakes, fires, power outages, and “biological disasters” such as the seasonal flu
• Documents on how to make your own emergency kit or the chapter offers various types of emergency kits for purchase
• Free Emergency health card documents to alert first responders about your health needs in the event you are unresponsive.  To learn more about making your own emergency health card click here, information in English and Spanish.
• Training courses in CPR, first aid, and disaster preparedness/response

Contact our local chapter, Monterey Bay Area Red Cross , for more information or to sign-up for a training course.

FEMA

FEMA is an agency of the federal government which assists local and state governments in providing disaster preparedness materials, training, and disaster recovery funding to the local communities, businesses and individuals. There are also many resources on the FEMA website where individuals can learn about many types of diasters, view maps of diaster risk areas, and get information pertaining to insurance coverage and court case mitigation.

A related site, also hosted by FEMA, provides step by step disaster planning for businesses and individuals as well as provides interactive computer activities to help kids learn about disaster preparedness. Check out www.ready.gov

Monterey County Preparedness

An information rich page hosted by the Monterey County Operational Area Emergency Operations Center provides diaster preparedness guidelines pertaining to a variety of disasters that may occur in the Monterey Bay area as well as helpful tips for people caring for the disabled, elderly, and animals. Visit the OES Disaster Preparedness page by clicking here.

The Monterey County website also provides preapredness information specific to winter storm and emergency conditions within the Monterey Bay area. Get prepared for winter by clicking here.